Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Why "Looting" the Social Security Trust Funds is Both Legal AND Fair

Having hopefully gotten some attention with THAT post title, let me start dispelling some misconceptions and myths about the Social Security Trust Funds, some innocent and some disseminated with malice aforethought. A common narrative among the left is that the Social Security Trust Funds were established after the Greenspan Commission in 1983 to one) pre-fund […]

"The young will pay more and get less." More Nonsense from Robert Samuelson

by Barkley Rosser  from Econospeak “The young will pay more and get less.” More Nonsense from Robert Samuelson Our old friend, Dean Baker at Beat the Press, does a good job of taking apart yet another screed by the execrable Robert J. Samuelson, faux economist for WaPo, whining about why nobody is jumping on board […]

Republican "fiscal cliff" proposal

by Linda Beale Republican “fiscal cliff” proposal House republican leaders have sent a letter to President Obama with their “fiscal cliff” proposal, which the Republicans cast as a “fair middle ground” and a “balanced framework for averting the fiscal cliff.”  Id.  Republicans object that the administrative proposal has is unbalanced, because it has “four times […]

Water, human rights and government failure

by David Zetland Water, human rights and government failure I wrote a paper on a human right to water several years ago,* in which I made the point (using data!) that laws supporting a human right to water are unlikely to work in countries where the rule of law is weak.** But what about places […]

Explaining the Fed Credibility Argument

Following up on my last post, I actually think that there are two possible explanations for the “Fed Credibility” argument’s wide deployment, both hinted at in Simon’s response to my comment: I think the credibility argument is really about the underlying motives of the policymakers, rather than their abilities. However I also think that argument […]

The Fed Credibility Argument

For once a short post, inspired by Simon Wren’s suggestion that the Fed should allow (encourage) a temporary rise in wage inflation. (The merits of such a policy being obvious to many of us given the current virtues of some extra inflation, and past decades’ wage trends.) I’ve never understood the credibility danger of the […]

Economic writing after my own heart

I have just learned of a new book that I believe every AB reader could relate to. DON’T BUY IT: The Trouble with Talking Nonsense about the Economy by: ANAT SHENKER-OSORIO An excerpt from the book summary: This concise, entertaining book shows us how wrong-headed metaphors and deceptive language have muddled our economic thinking, and […]

Business income or personal income

In response to Small businesses and tax cuts and reporting by Daniel Becker, reader Betty, a long time small business owner and not a sole proprietor herself in one of the richer towns of MA with a median income over $180,000 , asked: … I’ve always been baffled by the Republican complaint that it would […]

NYT: $80 Billion in State and Local Subsidies Annually (Updated)

by Kenneth Thomas NYT: $80 Billion in State and Local Subsidies Annually (Updated) In today’s New York Times, Louise Story begins a series, “The United States of Subsidies,” ten months in the making, with a story focusing on General Motors closures, the border war for investments between Kansas and Missouri in the Kansas City metropolitan […]

The Land Grabbers — the review

by David Zetland from Aguanomics The Land Grabbers — the review Fred Pearce sent me a review copy of his new book, The Land Grabbers: The New Fight over Who Owns the Earth, which I enjoyed very much for its detailed description of the pros and cons resulting from foreigners investing in land in developing countries. […]